This Pilgrim's Progress

Saturday, June 21, 2014

This world is not my home, I'm just passing through...
True. But it doesn't shelter us from the pain of deep sorrow when, to our way of understanding, a life here is cut too short.
We are grieving with you Jamie & Val and family.
Zion? You posted a song on Judah's home page from The Band Perry - one of the lines is so poignant... "the sharp knife of a short life". I used it as a title for this post. I hope you do not mind.
We are a moment indeed. The Lord has reminded us.
Together with all the saints who have been inspired and touched and grown by Solmusic, we will lift high the Name of Jesus and we will praise Him in this storm.

Praying this song today for the blessing of His comfort and peace:

Sovereign Over Usby Aaron Keyes
There is strength within the sorrow
There is beauty in our tears
And You meet us in our mourning
With a love that casts out fear
You are working in our waiting
You're sanctifying us
When beyond our understanding
You're teaching us to trustChorus:
Your plans are still to prosper
You have not forgotten us
You're with us in the fire and the flood
You're faithful forever
Perfect in love
You are sovereign over us.

You are wisdom unimagined
Who could understand Your ways
Reigning high above the Heavens
Reaching down in endless grace
You're the lifter of the lowly
Compassionate and kind
You surround and You uphold me
And Your promises are my delightChorus
Even what the enemy means for evil
You turn it for our good
You turn it for our good and for Your glory
Even in the valley, You are faithful
You're working for our good & for Your glory.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A tender heart for the wee ones.
I knew this to be true of him all these years.
It's what drew me to him in the first place;
- that kind heart.
And now it's captured in this picture, which for me,
really is worth a thousand words.

“In friendship…we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another…the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting–any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends, “Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others."

C.S.Lewis

(see also Acts 17:26-28)

"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."